System and method for health risk evaluation

ABSTRACT

A system for evaluating health risk is provided. The system may be configured for requesting first data from a merchant associated with a user and second data from an activity tracking service associated with the user. The system may also comprise analyzing the item to determine a first health impact for the item based on the item and demographic information associated with the user. The system may further comprise analyzing the level of activity to determine a second health impact from the level of activity based on the level of activity and the demographic information associated with the user. The system may further comprise selecting an advertisement based on medical data, and at least one of the first health impact, the second health impact and the demographic information associated with the user.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/262,796, entitled “System andMethod For Health Risk Evaluation” filed Dec. 3, 2015, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to providing incentives topatients, and more particularly, to providing incentives to patients fordemonstrating desirable behaviors and determining risks associated withthe items consumed by the patients and the activity level of thepatients.

BACKGROUND

The ability to gauge the health risk of a patient based on parametersassociated with a patient's everyday life and habits provides ahealthcare provider with a more holistic understanding of the patient'sneeds. As such, it would be desirable to understand the activity levelof the patient and the items that the patient consumes to understand thehealth risks associated with a patient.

Moreover, user payment systems allow a user to access an account, via aweb client, telephone system, or similar portal to view accounts,initiate payments, view actions associated with accounts, view documentsassociated with accounts and the like. Further, these systems acquireand include user specific information, which allows the system tocharacterize the preferences of a user automatically. Many of thesesystems are employed by healthcare providers, for example, hospitals,clinics, medical practice groups, and the like. With the rising cost ofhealthcare, there is a need to reduce the total cost of health servicesprovided. Further, there is a need to provide cost effective, discountedand targeted items to a user.

SUMMARY

In various embodiments, a system, method, and computer readable medium(collectively, the “System”) for evaluating health risks are provided.The System may be configured to perform operations and/or stepscomprising requesting, by the computer based system, first data from amerchant associated with a user and second data from an activitytracking service associated with the user. The system may furthercomprise parsing, by the computer based system, the first data todetermine an item purchased from the merchant. The system may alsocomprise analyzing, by the computer based system, the item to determinea first health impact for the item based on the item and demographicinformation associated with the user. The system may further compriseparsing, by the computer based system, the second data to determine alevel of activity monitored by the activity tracking service. The systemmay further comprise analyzing, by the computer based system, the levelof activity to determine a second health impact from the level ofactivity based on the level of activity and the demographic informationassociated with the user. The system may further comprise selecting, bythe computer based system, an advertisement based on medical data, andat least one of the first health impact, the second health impact andthe demographic information associated with the user.

In various embodiments, the system may further comprise receiving, bythe computer based, a selection of a bill associated with the user, andallocating, by the computer based system, an incentive based on theadvertisement. The system may further comprise crediting, by thecomputer based system, the incentive to an account, wherein the accountis at least one of owned by the user or associated with the user. Theaccount may be configured to accumulate incentives that may be appliedto bills. The system may further comprise crediting, by the computerbased system, the incentive to a bill associated with the user.

In various embodiments, the system may further comprise reducing, by thecomputer based system, an amount of the bill, and receiving, by thecomputer based system, a payment for the bill. The advertisement mayinclude at least one of a product and a service associated with medicaldata associated with the patient.

In various embodiments, the system may further comprise displaying, bythe computer based system, the advertisement for a predetermined amountof time. The system may further comprise by the computer based system, aselection of the advertisement and presenting, by the computer basedsystem, an offer based on the advertisement for an offered item, whereinthe offered item is associated with the medical data.

In various embodiments, the activity tracking system may include awearable device that is connected to a portable electronic device and isconfigured to interface with a user information engine. The activitytracking system may also include a network tracking system that isconnected to a portable electronic device and is configured to interfacewith a user information engine.

In various embodiments, the system may further comprise evaluating, bythe computer based system, a health risk of the user based on the firsthealth impact, the second health impact and the demographic informationassociated with the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present disclosure may be derivedby referring to the detailed description and claims when considered inconnection with the Figures, wherein like reference numbers refer tosimilar elements throughout the Figures, and:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating major system components forproviding advertisements to a user of a user payment system, inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary data source for auser profile module, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 3 is diagram illustrating a customer evaluation portion of anexemplary system for providing an advertisement to a user in accordancewith various embodiments; and

FIG. 4 is diagram illustrating an exemplary advertisement provided inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process displayingadvertisements and allocated advertising revenue, in accordance withvarious embodiments; and

FIG. 6 is a process flow illustrating an exemplary customer evaluationmethod, in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description herein is presented for purposes ofillustration only and not of limitation. For example, the steps recitedin any of the method or process descriptions may be executed in anyorder and are not limited to the order presented. For the sake ofbrevity, conventional data networking, application development and otherfunctional aspects of the systems (and components of the individualoperating components of the systems) may not be described in detailherein.

The systems and methods include a unique combination of one or morefeatures associated with a user payment system. In various embodiments,the user payment system may be configured with an advertising engine,such that the advertising engine may provide targeting advertisements toa user. Advertising revenue is accrued from the advertisements. Therevenue may be allocated to various sources including the user, the userpayment system provider, a hospital, a healthcare provider, and/or thelike. For more information regarding advertising revenue distributionsystems, see U.S. Ser. No. 14/052,529 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FORADVERTISING REVENUE DISTRIBUTION”, filed on Oct. 10, 2013; U.S. Ser. No.12/985,217 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADVERTISING REVENUEDISTRIBUTION”, filed on Jan. 5, 2011; and U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/292,332, filed Jan. 5, 2010, entitled “System andMethod for Advertising Revenue Distribution,” all of which areincorporated by reference in their entireties for all purposes.

“User” may include any individual, consumer, patient, group, business,organization, government entity, benefits administrator, user paymentsystem provider, account holder, charitable organization, software,hardware, and/or any other entity.

An “account”, “account number” or “consumer account” as used herein, mayinclude any device, code (e.g., one or more of an authorization/accesscode, personal identification number (“PIN”), Internet code, otheridentification code, and/or the like), number, letter, symbol, digitalcertificate, smart chip, digital signal, analog signal, biometric orother identifier/indicia suitably configured to allow the consumer toaccess, interact with or communicate with the system. The account numbermay optionally be located on or associated with a rewards account,charge account, credit account, debit account, prepaid account,telephone card, embossed card, smart card, magnetic stripe card, barcode card, transponder, radio frequency card or an associated account.The system may include or interface with any of the foregoing accountsor devices, or a transponder and RFID reader in RF communication withthe transponder (which may include a fob). Typical devices may include,for example, a key ring, tag, card, cell phone, wristwatch or any suchform capable of being presented for interrogation. Moreover, the system,computing unit or device discussed herein may include a “pervasivecomputing device,” which may include a traditionally non-computerizeddevice that is embedded with a computing unit.

A “user payment system” or “user payment account” may include anyaccount that may be used to facilitate a financial transaction.

A “user payment system provider” or “user payment account provider”includes any entity that offers user payment account services toconsumers. Although often referred to as a “financial institution,” thefinancial institution may represent any type of bank, lender or othertype of account issuing institution, such as payment servicesorganizations. It is further noted that other participants may beinvolved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediarysettlement institution.

A “financial processor,” “payment network,” or “payment system” or mayinclude any software, hardware and/or entity which processestransactions, issues accounts, acquires financial information, settlesaccounts, conducts dispute resolution regarding accounts, and/or thelike. As one of ordinary skill will recognize a financial account issuermay operate as, and provide the functions and services of a financialprocessor.

Phrases and terms similar to an “item” may include any good, service,information, experience, entertainment, data, offer, discount, rebate,points, virtual currency, content, access, rental, lease, contribution,account, credit, debit, benefit, right, reward, points, coupons,credits, monetary equivalent, anything of value, something of minimal orno value, monetary value, non-monetary value and/or the like. Moreover,the “transactions” or “purchases” discussed herein may be associatedwith an item. Furthermore, a “reward” may be an item.

With reference to FIG. 1, system 100 facilitates interaction between auser 105 and a user payment account system (“UPAS”) 140 through, invarious embodiments, a web client 110 with a network connection to anInternet server 120 by way of the Internet. In various embodiments,Internet server 120 employs an authentication server to validatecredentials, assign proper permissions, and retrieve preferencesinformation for authorized consumers of UPAS 140. In variousembodiments, Internet server 120 employs an application server to managevarious applications and utilities that are utilized by system 100. Invarious embodiments, Internet server 120 interacts directly with thevarious systems and components disclosed herein. System 100 may includeany number of computing platforms and databases that may be commonlyfound within a typical user payment system environment (e.g., at apayment processor, account issuer system, payment network, transactionsdatabase, etc.).

Such systems may include, for example, a user information engine 150, auser profile module 155, a risk module 160, an advertising engine 165,and the like. Other systems may include, for example, new accountssystems, management information systems, business information systems,third-party data providers and the like. Each of the systems may beinterconnected within by a network in via any method and/or devicedescribed herein.

A middleware server and/or application 130 may serve as an intermediarybetween the various systems to ensure appropriate communications betweendisparate platforms. A report engine 125 retrieves and/or is providedwith data from the various systems in order to generate billingstatements, reports, and the like.

UPAS 140 or any other components discussed herein may further includeone or more of the following: a host server or other computing systemsincluding a processor for processing digital data; a memory coupled tothe processor for storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled tothe processor for inputting digital data; an application program storedin the memory and accessible by the processor for directing processingof digital data by the processor; a display device coupled to theprocessor and memory for displaying information derived from digitaldata processed by the processor; and a plurality of databases.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, one or moreof the components of system 100 may be embodied as a customization of anexisting system, an add-on product, upgraded software, a stand alonesystem (e.g., kiosk), a distributed system, a method, a data processingsystem, a device for data processing, a computer and/or a computerprogram product. Accordingly, individual system 100 components may takethe form of an entirely software embodiment, an entirely hardwareembodiment, or an embodiment combining aspects of both software andhardware. In various embodiments, a system 100 component (e.g. acomputer) may include a processor, a memory, a communications interface,a network interface, etc. Furthermore, individual system 100 componentsmay take the form of a computer program product on a computer-readablestorage medium having computer-readable program code means embodied inthe storage medium. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may beutilized, including hard disks, CD-ROM, flash memory, optical storagedevices, magnetic storage devices, and/or the like. In variousembodiments, a system 100 component and/or subsystem comprises a networkinterface communicating with a memory, the memory communicating with aprocessor; and the processor, when executing a computer program,configured to accomplish a variety of functions and/or steps.

The system contemplates uses in association with web services, utilitycomputing, pervasive and individualized computing, security and identitysolutions, autonomic computing, commodity computing, mobility andwireless solutions, open source, biometrics, grid computing and/or meshcomputing.

User 105 may include any entity that utilizes system 100. User 105 mayalso include any entity that has a user payment account with a userpayment account provider. User 105 may include a consumer who uses anaccount code without any physical card, uses a transponder, and/or usesa physical transaction card, to purchase items which are billed on thebilling statement discussed herein. User 105 may also select paymentterms relating to a revolving line of credit account, submit payments,and/or view billing statements. User 105 may be, for example, a customerwho initiates payments. In various embodiments, user 105 may be, forexample, a customer who receives incentives for participating in anadvertising program during payments. In various embodiments, user 105may be a consumer service representative or the like who interacts withsystem 100 to provide account information and configure payment terms orterms on behalf of a user. In various embodiments, user 105 mayinterface with UPAS 140 via any communication protocol, device or methoddiscussed herein or known in the art. For example, user 105 may interactwith UPAS 140 by way of an Internet browser at web client 110.

Web client 110 comprises any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to facilitate requesting, retrieving, updating, analyzing,entering and/or modifying data. Web client 110 includes any device(e.g., personal computer) which communicates (in any manner discussedherein) with UPAS 140 via any network discussed herein. Such browserapplications comprise Internet browsing software installed within acomputing unit or system to conduct online transactions and/orcommunications. These computing units or systems may take the form of acomputer or set of computers, although other types of computing units orsystems may be used, including laptops, notebooks, hand held computers,set-top boxes, workstations, computer-servers, main frame computers,mini-computers, PC servers, pervasive computers, network sets ofcomputers, and/or the like. Practitioners will appreciate that webclient 110 may or may not be in direct contact with UPAS 140. Forexample, web client 110 may access the services of UPAS 140 throughanother server, which may have a direct or indirect connection toInternet server 120.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, web client 110 includes anoperating system (e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000/XP/VISTA/7, OS2, UNIX,Linux, Solaris, MacOS, etc.) as well as various conventional supportsoftware and drivers typically associated with computers. Web client 110may include any suitable personal computer, network computer,workstation, minicomputer, mainframe or the like. Web client 110 can bein a home or business environment with access to a network. In variousembodiments, access is through a network or the Internet through acommercially available web-browser software package.

Web client 110 may be independently, separately or collectively suitablycoupled to the network via data links which includes, for example, aconnection to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) over the local loop asis typically used in connection with standard modem communication, cablemodem, Dish networks, ISDN, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or variouswireless communication methods, see, e.g., Gilbert Held, UnderstandingData Communications (1996), which is hereby incorporated by reference.It is noted that the network may be implemented as other types ofnetworks, such as an interactive television (ITV) network.

Web client 110 may include any number of applications, code modules,cookies, and the like to facilitate interaction with UPAS 140 in orderto, for example, make a payment, view an advertising program, viewstatements, view payment terms, view spend information, elect a paymentterm, submit/authorize a payment, and the like. In various embodiments,web client 110 may store user 105 preferences and/or any otherinformation disclosed herein on a hard drive or any other local memorydevice. Accordingly, web client 110 may retrieve and store userinformation within a memory structure of web client 110 in the form of abrowser cookie, for example. In another embodiment, web client 110retrieves information relating to user 105 from UPAS 140 on establishinga session with Internet server 120.

Firewall 115, as used herein, may comprise any hardware and/or softwaresuitably configured to protect UPAS 140 components from users of othernetworks. Firewall 115 may reside in varying configurations includingstateful inspection, proxy based and packet filtering among others.Firewall 115 may be integrated as software within Internet server 120,any other UPAS 140 components or may reside within another computingdevice or may take the form of a standalone hardware component.

Internet server 120 may include any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to facilitate communications between web client 110 and oneor more UPAS 140 components. Further, Internet server 120 may beconfigured to transmit data to web client 110 within markup languagedocuments. As used herein, “data” may include encompassing informationsuch as commands, queries, files, data for storage, and/or the like indigital or any other form. Internet server 120 may operate as a singleentity in a single geographic location or as separate computingcomponents located together or in separate geographic locations.

Internet server 120 may provide a suitable web site or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible byconsumers. In various embodiments, the Microsoft Internet InformationServer (IIS), Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and Microsoft SQLServer, are used in conjunction with the Microsoft operating system,Microsoft NT web server software, a Microsoft SQL Server databasesystem, and a Microsoft Commerce Server. Additionally, components suchas Access or Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Informix MySQL,InterBase, etc., may be used to provide an Active Data Object (ADO)compliant database management system.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a web site having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical web site might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, Java applets, JavaScript, activeserver pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensiblemarkup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS),helper applications, plug-ins, and/or the like. A server may include aweb service that receives a request from a web server, the requestincluding a URL (e.g. http://yahoo.com/stockquotes/ge) and an IP address(e.g. 123.4.56.789). The web server retrieves the appropriate web pagesand sends the data or applications for the web pages to the IP address.Web services are applications that are capable of interacting with otherapplications over a communications means, such as the Internet. Webservices are typically based on standards or protocols such as XML,SOAP, WSDL and UDDI. Web services methods are well known in the art, andare covered in many standard texts. See, e.g., Alex Nghiem, IT WebServices: A Roadmap for the Enterprise (2003), hereby incorporated byreference.

Middleware 130 may include any hardware and/or software suitablyconfigured to facilitate communications and/or process transactionsbetween disparate computing systems. Middleware components arecommercially available and known in the art. Middleware 130 may beimplemented through commercially available hardware and/or software,through custom hardware and/or software components, or through acombination thereof. Middleware 130 may reside in a variety ofconfigurations and may exist as a standalone system or may be a softwarecomponent residing on the Internet server 120. Middleware 130 may beconfigured to process transactions between the various components ofUPAS 140 and any number of internal or external issuer systems 100 forthe purposes disclosed herein.

In order to control access to any component of UPAS 140, Internet server120 may invoke an authentication server (not shown) in response to user105 submissions of authentication credentials received at Internetserver 120 from web client 110. The authentication server may includeany hardware and/or software suitably configured to receiveauthentication credentials, encrypt and decrypt credentials,authenticate credentials, and grant access rights according toprivileges (e.g., pre-defined privileges) attached to the credentials.The authentication server may grant varying degrees of application anddata level access to users based on information stored within a databaseand/or any other known memory structure.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that system 100 may employ anynumber of databases in any number of configurations. Further, anydatabases discussed herein may be any type of database, such asrelational, hierarchical, graphical, object-oriented, and/or otherdatabase configurations. Common database products that may be used toimplement the databases include DB2 by IBM (White Plains, N.Y.), variousdatabase products available from Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores,Calif.), Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server by MicrosoftCorporation (Redmond, Wash.), or any other suitable database product.Moreover, the databases may be organized in any suitable manner, forexample, as data tables or lookup tables. Each record may be a singlefile, a series of files, a linked series of data fields or any otherdata structure.

Association of certain data may be accomplished through any desired dataassociation technique such as those known or practiced in the art. Forexample, the association may be accomplished either manually orautomatically. Automatic association techniques may include, forexample, a database search, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, using akey field in the tables to speed searches, sequential searches throughall the tables and files, sorting records in the file according to aknown order to simplify lookup, and/or the like. The association stepmay be accomplished by a database merge function, for example, using a“key field” in pre-selected databases or data sectors. Various databasetuning steps are contemplated to optimize database performance. Forexample, frequently used files such as indexes may be placed on separatefile systems to reduce In/Out (“I/O”) bottlenecks.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may be designated as a key field in a plurality ofrelated data tables and the data tables may then be linked on the basisof the type of data in the key field. The data corresponding to the keyfield in each of the linked data tables is preferably the same or of thesame type. However, data tables having similar, though not identical,data in the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example.In accordance with one aspect of system 100, any suitable data storagetechnique may be utilized to store data without a standard format. Datasets may be stored using any suitable technique, including, for example,storing individual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure;implementing a domain whereby a dedicated file is selected that exposesone or more elementary files containing one or more data sets; usingdata sets stored in individual files using a hierarchical filing system;data sets stored as records in a single file (including compression, SQLaccessible, hashed via one or more keys, numeric, alphabetical by firsttuple, etc.); Binary Large Object (BLOB); stored as ungrouped dataelements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements; stored as ungroupeddata elements encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) asin ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietary techniques that mayinclude fractal compression methods, image compression methods, etc.

In various embodiments, the ability to store a wide variety ofinformation in different formats is facilitated by storing theinformation as a BLOB. Thus, any binary information can be stored in astorage space associated with a data set. As discussed above, the binaryinformation may be stored on the financial transaction instrument orexternal to but affiliated with the financial transaction instrument.The BLOB method may store data sets as ungrouped data elements formattedas a block of binary via a fixed memory offset using either fixedstorage allocation, circular queue techniques, or best practices withrespect to memory management (e.g., paged memory, least recently used,etc.). By using BLOB methods, the ability to store various data setsthat have different formats facilitates the storage of data associatedwith system 100 by multiple and unrelated owners of the data sets. Forexample, a first data set which may be stored may be provided by a firstparty, a second data set which may be stored may be provided by anunrelated second party, and yet a third data set which may be stored,may be provided by an third party unrelated to the first and secondparty. Each of these three exemplary data sets may contain differentinformation that is stored using different data storage formats and/ortechniques. Further, each data set may contain subsets of data that alsomay be distinct from other subsets.

As stated above, in various embodiments of system 100, the data can bestored without regard to a common format. However, in one exemplaryembodiment, the data set (e.g., BLOB) may be annotated in a standardmanner when provided for manipulating the data onto the financialtransaction instrument. The annotation may comprise a short header,trailer, or other appropriate indicator related to each data set that isconfigured to convey information useful in managing the various datasets. For example, the annotation may be called a “condition header”,“header”, “trailer”, or “status”, herein, and may comprise an indicationof the status of the data set or may include an identifier correlated toa specific issuer or owner of the data. In one example, the first threebytes of each data set BLOB may be configured or configurable toindicate the status of that particular data set; e.g., LOADED,INITIALIZED, READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, or DELETED. Subsequent bytes ofdata may be used to indicate for example, the identity of the issuer,user, transaction/membership account identifier or the like. Each ofthese condition annotations are further discussed herein.

The data set annotation may also be used for other types of statusinformation as well as various other purposes. For example, the data setannotation may include security information establishing access levels.The access levels may, for example, be configured to permit only certainindividuals, levels of employees, companies, or other entities to accessdata sets, or to permit access to specific data sets based on thetransaction, issuer, user or the like. Furthermore, the securityinformation may restrict/permit only certain actions such as accessing,modifying, and/or deleting data sets. In one example, the data setannotation indicates that only the data set owner or the user arepermitted to delete a data set, various identified users may bepermitted to access the data set for reading, and others are altogetherexcluded from accessing the data set. However, other access restrictionparameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a dataset with various permission levels as appropriate.

The data, including the header or trailer may be received by astand-alone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify, oraugment the data in accordance with the header or trailer. As such, invarious embodiments, the header or trailer is not stored on thetransaction device along with the associated issuer-owned data butinstead the appropriate action may be taken by providing to thetransaction instrument user at the stand-alone device, the appropriateoption for the action to be taken. System 100 contemplates a datastorage arrangement wherein the header or trailer, or header or trailerhistory, of the data is stored on the transaction instrument in relationto the appropriate data.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers or other components of system100 may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system 100 includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

Various databases used herein may include: client data; provider data;financial institution data; and/or like data useful in the operation ofthe present disclosure. As those skilled in the art will appreciate,user computer may include an operating system (e.g., Windows NT,95/98/2000/XP/VISTA/7, OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, etc.) as wellas various conventional support software and drivers typicallyassociated with computers. The computer may include any suitablepersonal computer, network computer, workstation, minicomputer,mainframe or the like. User computer can be in a home or businessenvironment with access to a network. In various embodiments, access isthrough a network or the Internet through a commercially-availableweb-browser software package.

As used herein, the term “network” shall include any electroniccommunications means which incorporates both hardware and softwarecomponents of such. Communication among the parties in accordance withthe present disclosure may be accomplished through any suitablecommunication channels, such as, for example, a telephone network, anextranet, an intranet, Internet, point of interaction device (point ofsale device, personal digital assistant, cellular phone, kiosk, etc.),online communications, satellite communications, off-linecommunications, wireless communications, transponder communications,local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), networked or linkeddevices, keyboard, mouse and/or any suitable communication or data inputmodality. Moreover, although the disclosure is frequently describedherein as being implemented with TCP/IP communications protocols, thedisclosure may also be implemented using IPX, Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS,OSI or any number of existing or future protocols. If the network is inthe nature of a public network, such as the Internet, it may beadvantageous to presume the network to be insecure and open toeavesdroppers. Specific information related to the protocols, standards,and application software utilized in connection with the Internet isgenerally known to those skilled in the art and, as such, need not bedetailed herein. See, for example, Dilip Naik, Internet Standards AndProtocols (1998); Java 2 Complete, various authors, (Sybex 1999);Deborah Ray And Eric Ray, Mastering Html 4.0 (1997); and Loshin, TCP/IPClearly Explained (1997) and David Gourley and Brian Totty, HTTP, TheDefinitive Guide (2002), the contents of which are hereby incorporatedby reference.

The disclosure may be described herein in terms of functional blockcomponents, screen shots, optional selections and various processingsteps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocks may berealized by any number of hardware and/or software components configuredto perform the specified functions. For example, system 100 may employvarious integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements, processingelements, logic elements, look-up tables, and/or the like, which maycarry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of system 100 may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, Java, COBOL, assembler, PERL, VisualBasic, SQL Stored Procedures, extensible markup language (XML), with thevarious algorithms being implemented with any combination of datastructures, objects, processes, routines or other programming elements.Further, it should be noted that system 100 may employ any number ofconventional techniques for data transmission, signaling, dataprocessing, network control, and/or the like. Still further, system 100could be used to detect or prevent security issues with a client-sidescripting language, such as JavaScript, VBScript or the like. For abasic introduction of cryptography and network security, see any of thefollowing references: (1) “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms,And Source Code In C,” by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley & Sons(second edition, 1995); (2) “Java Cryptography” by Jonathan Knudson,published by O'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & NetworkSecurity: Principles & Practice” by William Stallings, published byPrentice Hall; all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

These software elements may be loaded onto a general purpose computer,special purpose computer, or other programmable data processingapparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions that executeon the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus createmeans for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block orblocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, may be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser windows, web pages, web sites, web forms, prompts, etc.Practitioners will appreciate that the illustrated steps describedherein may comprise in any number of configurations including the use ofwindows, web pages, web forms, popup windows, prompts and/or the like.It should be further appreciated that the multiple steps as illustratedand described may be combined into single web pages and/or windows buthave been expanded for the sake of simplicity. In other cases, stepsillustrated and described as single process steps may be separated intomultiple web pages and/or windows but have been combined for simplicity.

Practitioners will appreciate that there are a number of methods fordisplaying data within a browser-based document. Data may be representedas standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list, drop-downlist, editable text field, fixed text field, pop-up window, and/or thelike. Likewise, there are a number of methods available for modifyingdata in a web page such as, for example, free text entry using akeyboard, selection of menu items, check boxes, option boxes, and/or thelike.

In various embodiments and with continued reference to FIG. 1, a UPAS140 may further comprise user information engine 150, user profilemodule 155, risk module 160, advertising engine 165, and the like. Theseengines and modules may be separately or jointly configured to acquireuser information, display user information, complete user initiatedadministrative tasks, and provide advertisements to user 105.

User information engine 150 may be any hardware and/or softwareconfigured to acquire first user information. First user information maybe acquired before a visit, after a visit, and/or during a visit to ahealthcare provider. This user information can be combined to create auser profile. For example, user 105 may provide health information viaan electronic scheduling service in advance of an appointment, or to thedoctor during the appointment. This information may include variousdemographic and health information (e.g. age, sex, weight, symptoms,etc.). This information may be captured by user information engine 150before a user (e.g., patient) sees the doctor or during the doctorvisit. The patient may also have medical history information (e.g.pre-existing medical conditions such as high blood pressure, priorprocedures, chronic conditions, etc.). Such information may be capturedby user information engine 150 through patient electronic medical/healthrecords, medical billings (e.g., prior billings), medical billing codes,third party databases (e.g. third party electronic medical/healthrecords provider), and/or through various other channels, such ason-line medical messaging services. This information may be captured byuser information engine 150, before, during, or after the patientreceives medical care.

User profile module 155 may be any hardware and/or software configuredto receive, combine, compile, display, transmit or create a profile fora user. User information engine 150 may provide or combine first userinformation with other user information, such as an existing userprofile, an electronic medical/health record, or other information, asshown in FIG. 2. For example, a user that uses a UPAS 140 may have auser profile, wherein user profile module 155 collects various medicalinformation provided by user information engine 150 to supplement theinformation in the user profile.

In various embodiments, and with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, riskmodule 160 may be any suitable module that is configured to determinethe risk associated with a user. Risk module 160 may receive informationfrom merchant system 370 and/or activity tracking service 380 via userinformation engine 150. In this regard, user information engine 150 isconfigured to connect to and/or receive data from merchant system 370and/or activity tracking service 380. For example, user informationengine 150 may receive transaction information as discussed herein froma merchant via merchant system 370. User information engine 150 may beconfigured to analyze the transaction information to determine whatkinds of items were purchased by a user and what type of health impactthose items may have on the user. This information may be equated to ahealth impact parameter that can be evaluated by risk module 160. Riskmodule 160 may be configured to determine an overall health risk for auser based on the various items purchased form a merchant and identifiedby the user information engine 150. Moreover, risk module 160 may beable to make this assessment continuously or nearly continuously basedon the routine activities of the user to create a holistic riskassessment based on the items purchased through merchant system 370.

User information engine 150 may be further configured to connect toand/or receive data from activity tracking service 380. For example,user information engine 150 may collect data from activity trackingservice 380 about activity and/or exercise by user 105. As discussedherein, activity tracking service 380 may be a local system thatincludes a wearable and a smartphone and/or computer interface such as,for example, a Fitbit available from Fitbit, Inc., and/or the like.Activity tracking service 380 may also include a network trackingservice that includes a smartphone interface such as, for example,Strava, provided by Strava, Inc. and/or the like. User informationengine 150 may be configured to analyze the activity information todetermine what kind of activities were performed by a user and what typeof health impact those activities may have on the user. This informationmay be equated to a health impact parameter that can be evaluated byrisk module 160. Risk module 160 may be configured to determine anoverall health risk for a user based on the various activities performedby the user and identified by the user information engine 150. Moreover,risk module 160 may be able to make this assessment continuously ornearly continuously based on the routine activities of the user tocreate a holistic risk assessment as a function of the activities of theuser that are tracked by activity tracking service 380.

Advertising engine 165 may be any hardware and/or software configured tocollect and analyze user information and/or access and analyze a userprofile. Advertising engine 165 may be configured to parse user data andprovide targeted marketing in connection with user data. For example, inresponse to a user action (e.g. upon logging into a user payment system,processing a bill in a user payment system, to connecting to an on-linemessenger in a user payment system, in the middle of two steps during apre-registration or scheduling an appointment in a user payment system,etc.), advertising engine 165 is configured to display an advertisement,as shown in FIG. 4, for an item which relates to the user informationprovided by user information engine 150 or user profile module 155 (e.g.an advertisement for a new diabetes medication would be displayed to adiabetic user with symptoms corresponding to those the medication isintended to treat). In various embodiments, advertising engine 165 maybe configured to display multiple advertisements.

Advertising engine 165 may be an advertising program within various userpayment systems 140 and similar systems, including for example, billview, payment pages, financing, point of sale software, messengersoftware, healthcare scheduling systems (e.g. MedPayonline's e-visittool), pre-registration, scheduling, etc. Advertisements provided byadvertising engine 165 may be directed to health, pharmaceuticals,hospital services, over the counter medicines, and various differenthealth related services and products. Revenue may be aggregated into anaccount from advertising revenue and may be allocated in number of ways(the allocations do not have to be equal), including for example: 1) aportion of revenue may be allocated to provide discounts to payingusers; 2) a portion of revenue may be allocated to the hospital/healthcare provider; 3) a portion of the revenue may be allocated to the userpayment system provider.

UPAS 140 may be configured to allocate advertising revenue from adsprovided by advertising engine 165. The UPAS 140 may be configured toallocate money or “credits” earned in connection with add revenue to auser's payment, balance, or account. For example, each advertisement mayhave a pre-determined value, such that a percentage of that value isallocated to user 105 each time the advertisement is displayed. Afterthe advertisement is displayed, user 105 may select to apply their fundsto a current payment, an outstanding balance or save them in account.

With respect to the particular method of allocating funds, any known ordeveloped system for applying debits and credits to accounts may beused. In various embodiments, advertising revenue may used immediatelyor deposited in an account, such as for example a payment serviceaccount (e.g. Paypal), a traditional bank account, or in an accountprovided by the user payment system provider. For example, if the userdecides to utilize their funds immediately, the user's funding source(e.g. a user's credit card or user's bank account) will be charged thepayment due amount minus the user's share of advertising revenue. At thetime of payment or potentially at the end of each business day(depending on the funding source), user payment system provider maydisperse the user's share of the advertising revenue to the medicalprovider in the name of the user and/or patient. If the user decides touse the funds at a later date, the user payment system account may becredited with the user's portion of the advertising revenue, which maybe used at any time for a medical payment through the user paymentsystem.

Similarly, the healthcare provider's portion of the advertising revenuemay be dispersed (e.g., once a day) to the healthcare provider'saccount, such as for example, a payment services account (e.g. Paypal),a traditional bank account, and/or the like. The healthcare provider'sportion of the advertising revenue may be distributed to the providerimmediately (e.g. each business day), applied to a healthcare provideraccount provided by a user payment account provider, and/or applied tocurrent or future processing fees. The user payment system provider'sportion of the advertising revenue may be distributed to the userpayment system provider's account in any way known in the art orsubsequently developed.

In summary, with respect to an exemplary method, and with reference toFIG. 5, a user payment advertising revenue distribution system isprovided. User may access UPAS 140 (Step 510). Upon logging into thesystem, user 105 may have the option to take part in an advertisingprogram provided via advertising engine 165 (Step 520). If user 105chooses not to participate in the advertising program, the userinitiated action continues without any action from advertising engine165 (Step 525). If the user chooses to participate in the advertisingprogram, advertising engine 165 may select or create advertisementsbased on user information, for example information from user profile,providing for targeted marketing (Step 530). As user 105 navigatesthrough UPAS 140, advertisements are provided at specific points (e.g.setting up an account, making a payment, conversing online viamessenger, or initiating another action the system) (Step 540). Inresponse to user 105 participating in the program, a certain percentageof the revenue generated by the advertisements may be applied to a useraccount (Step 550). User 105 may apply all or a portion of the revenuein the account to a payment, bill, balance or maintain a balance in theaccount to accrue interest such that the money or credits in the accountmay be used for a future payment by the user. Further, advertisingrevenue may be allocated to a healthcare provider and/or a user paymentaccount service provider, as shown in Step 550.

In various embodiments, and with reference to FIG. 6, system 100 may beconfigured to execute a method 600 for patient modeling based on itemspurchase and activities of a user. Method 600 may comprise requestingfirst data from a merchant associated with a user and second data froman activity tracking service associated with user 105 (step 610). Inthis regard, user information engine 150 may be configured to interfacewith a merchant system via, for example, an API. The merchant system maybe any suitable system that is operated by a merchant that providesinformation about items purchased by a particular user. The itemspurchased by the particular user may be anonymized in some fashion. Forexample, the amount paid for each item, the instrument used to pay forthe item, and/or any other financial details about the item may beremoved to protect certain levels of user confidentiality.

In various embodiments, user information engine 150 may also be incommunication with an activity tracking service via, for example, anAPI, a Bluetooth connection, and/or any other suitable internetcommunication protocol or short range electronic communication protocol.The activity tracking service may be associated with user 105. Forexample, the activity tracking service may be a health monitoring deviceor wearable that is associated with and/or worn by user 105 to tracksteps of user 105, movement, vital signs (e.g., heart rate, bloodpressure, and/or the like), exercise level, and/or the like. Thisactivity tracking service or/and wearable may be, for example, a fitbit, and/or other suitable device that is capable of monitoring uservital sign and/or activity level. The activity tracking service may alsobe a service that tracks food and/or nutrition consumed by user 105 orfitness activities performed by user 105. The activity tracking servicemay have a micro-application associated with user's 105 phone orwearable that allows user 105 to input data or activate activitymonitoring periods. For example, user 105 may use an application tomonitor calories and/or nutrition consumed by user 105 such as, forexample, My Fitness Pal. User 105 may also use an application to monitorexercise such as, for example, Map My Run, Strava, and/or like.

In various embodiments, method 600 may further comprise parsing thefirst data to determine an item purchased from user 105 (step 620). Thefirst data received from the merchant may include more information thana particular item identifier. In this regard, the data may be parsedand/or filtered to identify a particular item purchased from themerchant by user 105. For example, an item identifier may be compared toa database or look up table of item identifiers to identify a particularitem purchased by user 105. Method 600 may further comprise analyzingthe item to determine a first health impact for the item based on theitem and the demographic information associated with user 105 (step630). Each item purchased by a user may be analyzed to determine ahealth impact for user 105 based on information about user 105. In thisregard, certain items may have different health impacts for particularitems may have particular health impacts for a particular userdemographic and/or other health information of user 105.

In various embodiments, method 600 may further comprise parsing thesecond data to determine a level of activity monitored by the activitytracking service (step 640). The second data may be analyzed todetermine the extent of activity associated with user 105. Method 600may further comprise analyzing the level of activity to determine asecond health impact from the level of activity based on the level ofactivity and the demographic information associated with user 105 (step650). In this regard the level of activity may be associated with and/ormay influence a factor or health impact that is associated with user105.

In various embodiments, method 600 may further comprise evaluating ahealth risk of user 105 based on the first health impact, the secondhealth impact, and the demographic information associated with user 105(Step 670). The first data associated with the item purchased and thesecond data associated with the level of activity monitor by theactivity tracking service may be indicative of and/or may be quantifiedherein as a first health impact or a second health impact respectively.These health impacts may be evaluated against the demographicinformation associated with user 105 to determine whether particularitems are harmful and/or increase the risk associated with the health ofuser 105. Moreover, the health risk may be indicative of and/orassociated with a particular health condition. Moreover the first healthimpact and/or the second health impact may similarly be associated witha medical condition this medical condition may be analyzed by system100.

In various embodiments, method 600 may further comprise selecting anadvertisement based on medical data and at least one of the first healthimpact, the second health impact, or the demographic informationassociated with user 105 (step 670). In this regard, the userinformation engine 150 may access user profile module 155 and/or riskmodule 160. Based on the information from profile module 155 and/or riskmodule 160, patient information engine and advertising engine may selectan advertisement that is tailored for the user based on the attributeand/or health condition of user 105. In this regard, advertisementsprovided by advertising engine 165 and presented to user 105 throughuser payment system 140 are tailored to user 105 and the particularailments or needs associated with the activities of user 105 and/or theitems consumed by user 105. Moreover, this tailoring evaluation and/oranalysis may be conducted by system 100 in advance of, during, and/orafter a user's visit to a health care provider and/or medical facility.Moreover, method 600 may be continuously executed by system 100 to modelthe particular behaviors and/or attributes associated with a particularuser 105. In this way, the advertisements selected for a user aretailored to the activities of user 105 and items consumed by user 105.

The disclosure and claims do not describe only a particular outcome ofproviding incentives, but the disclosure and claims include specificrules for implementing the outcome of providing incentives and thatrender information into a specific format that is then used and appliedto create the desired results of providing incentives, as set forth inMcRO, Inc. v. Bandai Namco Games America Inc. (Fed. Cir. case number15-1080, Sep. 13, 2016). In other words, the outcome of providingincentives can be performed by many different types of rules andcombinations of rules, and this disclosure includes various embodimentswith specific rules. While the absence of complete preemption may notguarantee that a claim is eligible, the disclosure does not sufficientlypreempt the field of providing incentives at all. The disclosure acts tonarrow, confine, and otherwise tie down the disclosure so as not tocover the general abstract idea of just providing incentives.Significantly, other systems and methods exist for providing incentives,so it would be inappropriate to assert that the claimed inventionpreempts the field or monopolizes the basic tools of providingincentives. In other words, the disclosure will not prevent others fromproviding incentives, because other systems are already performing thefunctionality in different ways than the claimed invention. Moreover,the claimed invention includes an inventive concept that may be found inthe non-conventional and non-generic arrangement of known, conventionalpieces, in conformance with Bascom v. AT&T Mobility, 2015-1763 (Fed.Cir. 2016). The disclosure and claims go way beyond any conventionalityof any one of the systems in that the interaction and synergy of thesystems leads to additional functionality that is not provided by anyone of the systems operating independently. The disclosure and claimsmay also include the interaction between multiple different systems, sothe disclosure cannot be considered an implementation of a genericcomputer, or just “apply it” to an abstract process. The disclosure andclaims may also be directed to improvements to software with a specificimplementation of a solution to a problem in the software arts.

In various embodiments, the system and method may include alerting asubscriber when their computer is offline. The system may includegenerating customized information and alerting a remote subscriber thatthe information can be accessed from their computer. The alerts aregenerated by filtering received information, building information alertsand formatting the alerts into data blocks based upon subscriberpreference information. The data blocks are transmitted to thesubscriber's wireless device which, when connected to the computer,causes the computer to auto-launch an application to display theinformation alert and provide access to more detailed information aboutthe information alert. More particularly, the method may compriseproviding a viewer application to a subscriber for installation on theremote subscriber computer; receiving information at a transmissionserver sent from a data source over the Internet, the transmissionserver comprising a microprocessor and a memory that stores the remotesubscriber's preferences for information format, destination address,specified information, and transmission schedule, wherein themicroprocessor filters the received information by comparing thereceived information to the specified information; generates aninformation alert from the filtered information that contains a name, aprice and a universal resource locator (URL), which specifies thelocation of the data source; formats the information alert into datablocks according to said information format; and transmits the formattedinformation alert over a wireless communication channel to a wirelessdevice associated with a subscriber based upon the destination addressand transmission schedule, wherein the alert activates the applicationto cause the information alert to display on the remote subscribercomputer and to enable connection via the URL to the data source overthe Internet when the wireless device is locally connected to the remotesubscriber computer and the remote subscriber computer comes online.

In various embodiments, the system and method may include a graphicaluser interface for dynamically relocating/rescaling obscured textualinformation of an underlying window to become automatically viewable tothe user. By permitting textual information to be dynamically relocatedbased on an overlap condition, the computer's ability to displayinformation is improved. More particularly, the method for dynamicallyrelocating textual information within an underlying window displayed ina graphical user interface may comprise displaying a first windowcontaining textual information in a first format within a graphical userinterface on a computer screen; displaying a second window within thegraphical user interface; constantly monitoring the boundaries of thefirst window and the second window to detect an overlap condition wherethe second window overlaps the first window such that the textualinformation in the first window is obscured from a user's view;determining the textual information would not be completely viewable ifrelocated to an unobstructed portion of the first window; calculating afirst measure of the area of the first window and a second measure ofthe area of the unobstructed portion of the first window; calculating ascaling factor which is proportional to the difference between the firstmeasure and the second measure; scaling the textual information basedupon the scaling factor; automatically relocating the scaled textualinformation, by a processor, to the unobscured portion of the firstwindow in a second format during an overlap condition so that the entirescaled textual information is viewable on the computer screen by theuser; and automatically returning the relocated scaled textualinformation, by the processor, to the first format within the firstwindow when the overlap condition no longer exists.

In various embodiments, the system may also include isolating andremoving malicious code from electronic messages (e.g., email) toprevent a computer from being compromised, for example by being infectedwith a computer virus. The system may scan electronic communications formalicious computer code and clean the electronic communication before itmay initiate malicious acts. The system operates by physically isolatinga received electronic communication in a “quarantine” sector of thecomputer memory. A quarantine sector is a memory sector created by thecomputer's operating system such that files stored in that sector arenot permitted to act on files outside that sector. When a communicationcontaining malicious code is stored in the quarantine sector, the datacontained within the communication is compared to maliciouscode-indicative patterns stored within a signature database. Thepresence of a particular malicious code-indicative pattern indicates thenature of the malicious code. The signature database further includescode markers that represent the beginning and end points of themalicious code. The malicious code is then extracted from maliciouscode-containing communication. An extraction routine is run by a fileparsing component of the processing unit. The file parsing routineperforms the following operations: scan the communication for theidentified beginning malicious code marker; flag each scanned bytebetween the beginning marker and the successive end malicious codemarker; continue scanning until no further beginning malicious codemarker is found; and create a new data file by sequentially copying allnon-flagged data bytes into the new file, which thus forms a sanitizedcommunication file. The new, sanitized communication is transferred to anon-quarantine sector of the computer memory. Subsequently, all data onthe quarantine sector is erased. More particularly, the system includesa method for protecting a computer from an electronic communicationcontaining malicious code by receiving an electronic communicationcontaining malicious code in a computer with a memory having a bootsector, a quarantine sector and a non-quarantine sector; storing thecommunication in the quarantine sector of the memory of the computer,wherein the quarantine sector is isolated from the boot and thenon-quarantine sector in the computer memory, where code in thequarantine sector is prevented from performing write actions on othermemory sectors; extracting, via file parsing, the malicious code fromthe electronic communication to create a sanitized electroniccommunication, wherein the extracting comprises scanning thecommunication for an identified beginning malicious code marker,flagging each scanned byte between the beginning marker and a successiveend malicious code marker, continuing scanning until no furtherbeginning malicious code marker is found, and creating a new data fileby sequentially copying all non-flagged data bytes into a new file thatforms a sanitized communication file; transferring the sanitizedelectronic communication to the non-quarantine sector of the memory; anddeleting all data remaining in the quarantine sector.

In various embodiments, the system may also address the problem ofretaining control over customers during affiliate purchase transactions,using a system for co-marketing the “look and feel” of the host web pagewith the product-related content information of the advertisingmerchant's web page. The system can be operated by a third-partyoutsource provider, who acts as a broker between multiple hosts andmerchants. Prior to implementation, a host places links to a merchant'swebpage on the host's web page. The links are associated withproduct-related content on the merchant's web page. Additionally, theoutsource provider system stores the “look and feel” information fromeach host's web pages in a computer data store, which is coupled to acomputer server. The “look and feel” information includes visuallyperceptible elements such as logos, colors, page layout, navigationsystem, frames, mouse-over effects or other elements that are consistentthrough some or all of each host's respective web pages. A customer whoclicks on an advertising link is not transported from the host web pageto the merchant's web page, but instead is re-directed to a compositeweb page that combines product information associated with the selecteditem and visually perceptible elements of the host web page. Theoutsource provider's server responds by first identifying the host webpage where the link has been selected and retrieving the correspondingstored “look and feel” information. The server constructs a compositeweb page using the retrieved “look and feel” information of the host webpage, with the product-related content embedded within it, so that thecomposite web page is visually perceived by the customer as associatedwith the host web page. The server then transmits and presents thiscomposite web page to the customer so that she effectively remains onthe host web page to purchase the item without being redirected to thethird party merchant affiliate. Because such composite pages arevisually perceived by the customer as associated with the host web page,they give the customer the impression that she is viewing pages servedby the host. Further, the customer is able to purchase the item withoutbeing redirected to the third party merchant affiliate, thus allowingthe host to retain control over the customer. This system enables thehost to receive the same advertising revenue streams as before butwithout the loss of visitor traffic and potential customers. Moreparticularly, the system may be useful in an outsource provider servingweb pages offering commercial opportunities. The computer storecontaining data, for each of a plurality of first web pages, defining aplurality of visually perceptible elements, which visually perceptibleelements correspond to the plurality of first web pages; wherein each ofthe first web pages belongs to one of a plurality of web page owners;wherein each of the first web pages displays at least one active linkassociated with a commerce object associated with a buying opportunityof a selected one of a plurality of merchants; and wherein the selectedmerchant, the outsource provider, and the owner of the first web pagedisplaying the associated link are each third parties with respect toone other; a computer server at the outsource provider, which computerserver is coupled to the computer store and programmed to: receive fromthe web browser of a computer user a signal indicating activation of oneof the links displayed by one of the first web pages; automaticallyidentify as the source page the one of the first web pages on which thelink has been activated; in response to identification of the sourcepage, automatically retrieve the stored data corresponding to the sourcepage; and using the data retrieved, automatically generate and transmitto the web browser a second web page that displays: informationassociated with the commerce object associated with the link that hasbeen activated, and the plurality of visually perceptible elementsvisually corresponding to the source page.

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided. In thedetailed description herein, references to “various embodiments”, “oneembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicatethat the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isdescribed in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it iswithin the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implementthe disclosure in alternative embodiments.

As used herein, “satisfy”, “meet”, “match”, “associated with” or similarphrases may include an identical match, a partial match, meeting certaincriteria, matching a subset of data, a correlation, satisfying certaincriteria, a correspondence, an association, an algorithmic relationshipand/or the like. Similarly, as used herein, “authenticate” or similarterms may include an exact authentication, a partial authentication,authenticating a subset of data, a correspondence, satisfying certaincriteria, an association, an algorithmic relationship and/or the like.

Terms and phrases similar to “associate” and/or “associating” mayinclude tagging, flagging, correlating, using a look-up table or anyother method or system for indicating or creating a relationship betweenelements, such as, for example, (i) a transaction account and (ii) anitem (e.g., offer, reward, discount) and/or digital channel. Moreover,the associating may occur at any point, in response to any suitableaction, event, or period of time. The associating may occur atpre-determined intervals, periodic, randomly, once, more than once, orin response to a suitable request or action. Any of the information maybe distributed and/or accessed via a software enabled link, wherein thelink may be sent via an email, text, post, social network input and/orany other method known in the art.

Any communication, transmission and/or channel discussed herein mayinclude any system or method for delivering content (e.g. data,information, metadata, etc), and/or the content itself. The content maybe presented in any form or medium, and in various embodiments, thecontent may be delivered electronically and/or capable of beingpresented electronically. For example, a channel may comprise a websiteor device (e.g., Facebook, YOUTUBE®, APPLE®TV®, PANDORA®, XBOX®, SONY®PLAYSTATION®), a uniform resource locator (“URL”), a document (e.g., aMICROSOFT® Word® document, a MICROSOFT® Excel® document, an ADOBE® .pdfdocument, etc.), an “ebook,” an “emagazine,” an application ormicroapplication (as described herein), an SMS or other type of textmessage, an email, facebook, twitter, MMS and/or other type ofcommunication technology. In various embodiments, a channel may behosted or provided by a data partner. In various embodiments, thedistribution channel may comprise at least one of a merchant website, asocial media website, affiliate or partner websites, an external vendor,a mobile device communication, social media network and/or locationbased service. Distribution channels may include at least one of amerchant website, a social media site, affiliate or partner websites, anexternal vendor, and a mobile device communication. Examples of socialmedia sites include FACEBOOK®, FOURSQUARE®, TWITTER®, MYSPACE®,LINKEDIN®, and the like. Examples of affiliate or partner websitesinclude AMERICAN EXPRESS®, GROUPON®, LIVINGSOCIAL®, and the like.Moreover, examples of mobile device communications include texting,email, and mobile applications for smartphones.

A “patient profile”, “user profile” or “user profile data” may compriseany information or data about a user that describes an attributeassociated with the user (e.g., a preference, an interest, demographicinformation, personally identifying information, and the like).

In various embodiments, the methods described herein are implementedusing the various particular machines described herein. The methodsdescribed herein may be implemented using the below particular machines,and those hereinafter developed, in any suitable combination, as wouldbe appreciated immediately by one skilled in the art. Further, as isunambiguous from this disclosure, the methods described herein mayresult in various transformations of certain articles.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: client data; merchant data; financial institution data;and/or like data useful in the operation of the system. As those skilledin the art will appreciate, user computer may include an operatingsystem (e.g., WINDOWS®, OS2, UNIX®, LINUX®, SOLARIS®, MacOS, etc.) aswell as various conventional support software and drivers typicallyassociated with computers.

The present system or any part(s) or function(s) thereof may beimplemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof and may beimplemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems.However, the manipulations performed by embodiments were often referredto in terms, such as matching or selecting, which are commonlyassociated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No suchcapability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in most cases,in any of the operations described herein. Rather, the operations may bemachine operations. Useful machines for performing the variousembodiments include general purpose digital computers or similardevices.

In fact, in various embodiments, the embodiments are directed toward oneor more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionalitydescribed herein. The computer system includes one or more processors,such as processor. The processor is connected to a communicationinfrastructure (e.g., a communications bus, cross-over bar, or network).Various software embodiments are described in terms of this exemplarycomputer system. After reading this description, it will become apparentto a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement variousembodiments using other computer systems and/or architectures. Computersystem can include a display interface that forwards graphics, text, andother data from the communication infrastructure (or from a frame buffernot shown) for display on a display unit.

Computer system also includes a main memory, such as for example randomaccess memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory. Thesecondary memory may include, for example, a hard disk drive and/or aremovable storage drive, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetictape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storage drivereads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit in a well-knownmanner. Removable storage unit represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape,optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to by removable storagedrive. As will be appreciated, the removable storage unit includes acomputer usable storage medium having stored therein computer softwareand/or data.

In various embodiments, secondary memory may include other similardevices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to beloaded into computer system. Such devices may include, for example, aremovable storage unit and an interface. Examples of such may include aprogram cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in videogame devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM)) andassociated socket, and other removable storage units and interfaces,which allow software and data to be transferred from the removablestorage unit to computer system.

Computer system may also include a communications interface.Communications interface allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system and external devices. Examples of communicationsinterface may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernetcard), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and datatransferred via communications interface are in the form of signalswhich may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signalscapable of being received by communications interface. These signals areprovided to communications interface via a communications path (e.g.,channel). This channel carries signals and may be implemented usingwire, cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, a radiofrequency (RF) link, wireless and other communications channels.

The terms “computer program medium” and “computer usable medium” and“computer readable medium” are used to generally refer to media such asremovable storage drive and a hard disk installed in hard disk drive.These computer program products provide software to computer system.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) arestored in main memory and/or secondary memory. Computer programs mayalso be received via communications interface. Such computer programs,when executed, enable the computer system to perform the features asdiscussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed,enable the processor to perform the features of various embodiments.Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of thecomputer system.

In various embodiments, software may be stored in a computer programproduct and loaded into computer system using removable storage drive,hard disk drive or communications interface. The control logic(software), when executed by the processor, causes the processor toperform the functions of various embodiments as described herein. Invarious embodiments, hardware components such as application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardware statemachine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparentto persons skilled in the relevant art(s).

In various embodiments, the server may include application servers (e.g.WEB SPHERE, WEB LOGIC, JBOSS, EDB® Postgres Plus Advanced Server®(PPAS), etc.). In various embodiments, the server may include webservers (e.g. APACHE, IIS, GWS, SUN JAVA® SYSTEM WEB SERVER).

A web client includes any device (e.g., personal computer) whichcommunicates via any network, for example such as those discussedherein. Such browser applications comprise Internet browsing softwareinstalled within a computing unit or a system to conduct onlinetransactions and/or communications. These computing units or systems maytake the form of a computer or set of computers, although other types ofcomputing units or systems may be used, including laptops, notebooks,tablets, hand held computers, personal digital assistants, set-topboxes, workstations, computer-servers, main frame computers,mini-computers, PC servers, pervasive computers, network sets ofcomputers, personal computers, such as IPADS®, IMACS®, and MACBOOKS®,kiosks, terminals, point of sale (POS) devices and/or terminals,televisions, or any other device capable of receiving data over anetwork. A web-client may run MICROSOFT® INTERNET EXPLORER®, MOZILLA®FIREFOX®, GOOGLE® CHROME®, APPLE® Safari, or any other of the myriadsoftware packages available for browsing the internet.

Practitioners will appreciate that a web client may or may not be indirect contact with an application server. For example, a web client mayaccess the services of an application server through another serverand/or hardware component, which may have a direct or indirectconnection to an Internet server. For example, a web client maycommunicate with an application server via a load balancer. In variousembodiments, access is through a network or the Internet through acommercially-available web-browser software package.

In various embodiments, components, modules, and/or engines of system100 may be implemented as micro-applications or micro-apps. Micro-appsare typically deployed in the context of a mobile operating system,including for example, a WINDOWS® mobile operating system, an ANDROID®Operating System, APPLE® IOS®, a BLACKBERRY® operating system and thelike. The micro-app may be configured to leverage the resources of thelarger operating system and associated hardware via a set ofpredetermined rules which govern the operations of various operatingsystems and hardware resources. For example, where a micro-app desiresto communicate with a device or network other than the mobile device ormobile operating system, the micro-app may leverage the communicationprotocol of the operating system and associated device hardware underthe predetermined rules of the mobile operating system. Moreover, wherethe micro-app desires an input from a user, the micro-app may beconfigured to request a response from the operating system whichmonitors various hardware components and then communicates a detectedinput from the hardware to the micro-app.

As used herein, the term “network” includes any cloud, cloud computingsystem or electronic communications system or method which incorporateshardware and/or software components. Communication among the parties maybe accomplished through any suitable communication channels, such as,for example, a telephone network, an extranet, an intranet, Internet,point of interaction device (point of sale device, personal digitalassistant (e.g., IPHONE®, BLACKBERRY®), cellular phone, kiosk, etc.),online communications, satellite communications, off-linecommunications, wireless communications, transponder communications,local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual privatenetwork (VPN), networked or linked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or anysuitable communication or data input modality. Moreover, although thesystem is frequently described herein as being implemented with TCP/IPcommunications protocols, the system may also be implemented using IPX,APPLE®talk, IP-6, NetBIOS®, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec,SSH), or any number of existing or future protocols. If the network isin the nature of a public network, such as the Internet, it may beadvantageous to presume the network to be insecure and open toeavesdroppers. Specific information related to the protocols, standards,and application software utilized in connection with the Internet isgenerally known to those skilled in the art and, as such, need not bedetailed herein. See, for example, DILIP NAIK, INTERNET STANDARDS ANDPROTOCOLS (1998); JAVA® 2 COMPLETE, various authors, (Sybex 1999);DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY, MASTERING HTML 4.0 (1997); and LOSHIN, TCP/IPCLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997) and DAVID GOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, HTTP, THEDEFINITIVE GUIDE (2002), the contents of which are hereby incorporatedby reference.

The various system components may be independently, separately orcollectively suitably coupled to the network via data links whichincludes, for example, a connection to an Internet Service Provider(ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connection withstandard modem communication, cable modem, Dish Networks®, ISDN, DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communication methods, see,e.g., GILBERT HELD, UNDERSTANDING DATA COMMUNICATIONS (1996), which ishereby incorporated by reference. It is noted that the network may beimplemented as other types of networks, such as an interactivetelevision (ITV) network. Moreover, the system contemplates the use,sale or distribution of any goods, services or information over anynetwork having similar functionality described herein.

“Cloud” or “Cloud computing” includes a model for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal managementeffort or service provider interaction. Cloud computing may includelocation-independent computing, whereby shared servers provideresources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.For more information regarding cloud computing, see the NIST's (NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology) definition of cloud computing athttp://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf (lastvisited June 2012), which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

As used herein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onesystem component to another over a network connection. Additionally, asused herein, “data” may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. Reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly sostated, but rather “one or more.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to‘at least one of A, B, or C’ is used, it is intended that the phrase beinterpreted to mean that A alone may be present in various embodiments,B alone may be present in various embodiments, C alone may be present invarious embodiments, or that any combination of the elements A, B and Cmay be present in a single embodiment; for example, A and B, A and C, Band C, or A and B and C. All structural, chemical, and functionalequivalents to the elements of the above-described exemplary embodimentsthat are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed bythe disclosure. Further, a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: requesting, by a computerbased system and via a middleware server first data in a firstnon-standardized format from a merchant server of a merchant associatedwith a user and second data in a second non-standardized format from anactivity tracking service associated with the user, wherein the activitytracking service tracks at least one of steps, movement, vital signs orexercise level of the user; wherein the second non-standardized formatrelates to data associated with the activity tracking service;converting, by the computer based system using the middleware server,the first data and the second data into a standardized format, whereinthe standardized format includes a merger of the first non-standardizedformat and the second non-standardized format; parsing, by the computerbased system, the first data to determine an item purchased from themerchant; analyzing, by the computer based system, the item to determinea first health impact for the item based on the item and demographicinformation associated with the user; parsing, by the computer basedsystem, the second data to determine a level of activity monitored bythe activity tracking service; determining, by the computer basedsystem, kind of activities of the user from the level of activity,wherein the kind of activities include at least one of fitnessactivities or exercise activities; analyzing, by the computer basedsystem, the level of activity, the kind of activities and thedemographic information associated with the user to determine a secondhealth impact; and selecting, by the computer based system, anadvertisement based on medical data, and at least one of the firsthealth impact, the second health impact or the demographic informationassociated with the user.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising,receiving, by the computer based system, a selection of a billassociated with the user; and allocating, by the computer based system,an incentive based on the advertisement.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the selecting is further based on at least one of a profile ofthe user or a health risk associated with the user.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising crediting, by the computer based system, theincentive to an account, wherein the account is configured to accumulateincentives that are applied to the bills.
 5. The method of claim 2,further comprising crediting, by the computer based system, theincentive to the bill associated with the user.
 6. The method of claim5, further comprising: reducing, by the computer based system, an amountof the bill; and receiving, by the computer based system, a payment forthe bill.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein the advertisement includesat least one of a product or a service associated with medical dataassociated with the patient.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising displaying, by the computer based system, the advertisementfor a predetermined amount of time.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, by the computer based system, a selection of theadvertisement; presenting, by the computer based system, an offer basedon the advertisement for an offered item, wherein the offered item isassociated with the medical data.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising allocating, by the computer based system, at least a portionof revenue from the advertisement to at least one of the user, a healthcare provider or a user payment system provider.
 11. The method of claim1, further comprising displaying, by the computer based system, theadvertisement in response to at least one of logging into a user paymentsystem, processing a bill in the user payment system, connecting to anon-line messenger in the user payment system, being between two stepsduring a pre-registration or scheduling an appointment in the userpayment system.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprisingevaluating, by the computer based system, a health risk of the userbased on the first health impact, the second health impact and thedemographic information associated with the user.
 13. A non-transitorytangible computer-readable storage medium having computer-executableinstructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computer based systemconfigured, causes the computer based system to perform a methodcomprising: requesting, by the computer based system and via amiddleware server, first data in a first non-standardized format from amerchant server of a merchant associated with a user and second data ina second non-standardized format from an activity tracking serviceassociated with the user, wherein the activity tracking service tracksat least one of steps, movement, vital signs or exercise level of theuser; wherein the second non-standardized format relates to dataassociated with the activity tracking service; converting, by thecomputer based system using the middleware server, the first data andthe second data into a standardized format, wherein the standardizedformat includes a merger of the first non-standardized format and thesecond non-standardized format; parsing, by the computer based system,the first data to determine an item purchased from the merchant;analyzing, by the computer based system, the item to determine a firsthealth impact for the item based on the item and demographic informationassociated with the user; parsing, by the computer based system, thesecond data to determine a level of activity monitored by the activitytracking service; determining, by the computer based system, kind ofactivities of the user from the level of activity, wherein the kind ofactivities include at least one of fitness activities or exerciseactivities; analyzing, by the computer based system, the level ofactivity, the kind of activities and the demographic informationassociated with the user to determine a second health impact; andselecting, by the computer based system, an advertisement based onmedical data, and at least one of the first health impact, the secondhealth impact or the demographic information associated with the user.14. The method of claim 1, further comprising anonymizing, by thecomputer based system, the first data.
 15. The method of claim 1,further comprising removing, by the computer based system, from thefirst data at least one of an amount paid for the item, the instrumentused to pay for the item, or financial information about the item. 16.The method of claim 1, wherein the second data includes at least one offood, calories or nutrition consumed by the user.
 17. A systemcomprising: a network interface communicating with a memory; the memorycommunicating with a processor; and the processor, when executing acomputer program, is configured to perform operations comprising:requesting, by the processor and via a middleware server, first data ina first non-standardized format from a merchant server of a merchantassociated with a user and second data in a second non-standardizedformat from an activity tracking service associated with the user,wherein the activity tracking service tracks at least one of steps,movement, vital signs or exercise level of the user; wherein the secondnon-standardized format relates to data associated with the activitytracking service; converting, by the processor, using the middlewareserver, the first data and the second data into a standardized format,wherein the standardized format includes a merger of the firstnon-standardized format and the second non-standardized format; parsing,by the computer based system, the first data to determine an itempurchased from the merchant; analyzing, by the processor, the item todetermine a first health impact for the item based on the item anddemographic information associated with the user; parsing, by theprocessor, the second data to determine a level of activity monitored bythe activity tracking service determining, by the processor, kind ofactivities of the user from the level of activity, wherein the kind ofactivities include at least one of fitness activities or exerciseactivities; analyzing, by the processor, the level of activity, the kindof activities and the demographic information associated with the userto determine a second health impact; and selecting, by the processor, anadvertisement based on medical data, and at least one of the firsthealth impact, the second health impact or the demographic informationassociated with the user.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the parsingfurther comprises: obtaining, by the computer based system, an itemidentifier associated with the item; comparing, by the computer basedsystem, the item identifier with a look up table of the item identifierand the item; and determining, by the computer based system, the itembased on the comparing.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein at least oneof the first health impact or the second health impact is at least oneof harmful, associated with a medical condition or increase a riskassociated with a health of the user.
 20. The method of claim 1, whereinthe selecting occurs at least one of before, during or after a visit toa health care provider by the user.